It was a busy year for Thai theatre. Life highlights a few trends and picks the best productions of 2017
The Wandering Artists
The renovation and temporary closure of Pridi Banomyong Institute has uprooted two political theatre companies -- Crescent Moon Theatre and B-Floor Theatre. Neither Crescent Moon Space nor B-Floor Room will return once the Institute reopens. Performing artists need stable homes for consistent growth and development. There also needs to be more cultural and art managers with visions that are more inclusive towards the performing arts. But more theatre artists are also refusing to be confined to cramped rooms in shophouses -- which is what a lot of small theatre venues in Bangkok essentially are -- branching out to new art galleries and creative spaces. FullFat Theatre was formed this year with a mission to bring performances to non-theatre venues. They staged [Co/exist] at Warehouse 30 before it was renovated and prettified into a creative and commercial space. In November, they staged Sleepwalkers throughout another art venue YELO House. Dujdao Vadhanapakorn of B-Floor brought Blissfully Blind and light installations by Zieght into Bangkok CityCity Gallery. A Theatre Unit's Cheng-Meng placed a Thai-Chinese domestic drama in Cho Why, an art venue in Chinatown that was once a house. Some of the performances in the "Unfolding Kafka Festival" took place in the streets and even a hotel parking lot. By doing this, these artists are not only pushing creative boundaries, but also bringing their works to spaces that are not frequented by the same old faces of the tight-knit theatre community. As a result, we are beginning to see more movers-and-shakers from other creative circles in Bangkok at the theatre.
Political (Theatre) Stagnation
This hasn't been a particularly interesting year for political theatre in Thailand. B-Floor Theatre, For What Theatre, Anatta Theatre Group and Splashing Theatre are still active and stretching themselves artistically. They all continue to critique censorship, whitewashing of history, witch-hunts and authoritarianism. But there hasn't been a real deepening of political thought in any of the productions I saw this year. A lot of the issues are getting mired in the abstract. There are only two sides -- the oppressor and the oppressed. If the names of political victims can appear in the news and on social media, they should also be heard on the stage. Their lives and internal conflict should also be imagined and brought to life in vivid and specific details. It's heartening that there's so much political theatre in a politically oppressive time, but what's needed is not more symbols and metaphors, but specificity and complexity. That's why the two productions on political subjects that stood out the most to me are The Voyage, by Thammasat University's Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, and Nebula, written by Narit Pachoey as part of a master's programme at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Arts. The Voyage is documentary theatre that sheds light on the lives of immigrants of various ethnicities in Thailand, while Nebula is inspired by Chit Phumisak's politically contentious time as a student at Chulalongkorn University. Through these two plays, people on the margins of a society that values institutions over individuals suddenly have names, faces and a voice.
Quantity Over Quality
In the past few years, newcomers and veteran theatre artists have been constantly bursting with inspiration and energy to make art. But after a few years, it's stopped being exciting, especially this year when most of the productions were mediocre. Some artists write and direct several plays a year. That's not commitment to craft and quality. That's commitment to productivity and quantity. The tight-knit and supportive theatre community has made it easy for young and eager theatre enthusiasts to become artists and stage their works -- too easy at times. It's not an environment conducive to competition and criticism, and therefore, not conducive to long-term development for either new or experienced artists. On the bright side, there are more curated festivals that bring local and foreign artists to the same platform and sometimes for collaboration. We're beginning to see more inclination towards process-oriented works, most notably Open Waters and Hari Raya. Hopefully, more Thai theatre artists and producers will move in this direction.
